Friday, 8 October 2010

Daisy's Birth Story

﻿Me at 38+4 with my nephew Charlie ♥

Knowing that my little monkey is only a few weeks away from her very first birthday makes me feel so unbelievably emotional. I visited a friend and her 6 day old baby boy yesterday and, aside from making me feel ridiculously broody, it made me think back to this time last year. Last night I found myself reminiscing about my big fat belly and remembering how I felt in the last few weeks of my pregnancy. So I looked at my bump photos on the laptop. I laughed at how DESPERATE I was for a big, fat glass of pinot noir and a slab of Norbury blue. I logged onto the long since abandoned pregnancy website that I frequented for nine months. And I found this.... Daisy's birth story. Read on for a very soppy and hormonal account of my labour.*

* With a few gory bits thrown in for good measure - male readers beware!

Well ladies......... Daisy Elizabeth Kay is finally here! She was born at 9.58pm on 4 November 2009 weighing 7lbs 8oz!

As some of you know, I went to the Day Assessment Unit on Tuesday as she had been really quiet for a couple of days. They monitored me and although her heart beat was fine,she still wasn't moving about as much as she had been so they referred me for a growth scan straight away. This revealed that she was measuring large (44 weeks at 38+6! Eeeekk!) and that my amniotic fluid was on the low side, so when I spoke to the consultant afterwards he told me that he wanted baby to be delivered asap.

So I was admitted (I was completely in shock!) and was told that they would be inducing me, and if three attempts failed (pretty likely as an internal examination revealed that nothing was really happening 'down there'; my cervix was still long and completely closed) then bambino would be brought into the world by c-section.

As predicted, and after two long days and nights in hospital, all three inductions failed and so I started to prepare myself for my imminent c-sect. I was given one final internal to see whether I had started to dilate (in which case they could break my waters and put me on a synoticin drip to start the contractions off and let me give birth naturally) however my body was not behaving itself and said cervix was still firmly closed.

A couple of minutes later there was a massive *pop* inside my tummy; it felt like being flicked with an elastic band and made me jump out of my skin. I called the midwife because my tummy had started to cramp really severely. I told her that I had felt what I could only describe as something bursting and she asked whether my waters had gone; because I hadn't felt anything I said no. She went to get the doctor and the moment she left the ward there was a massive gush and I realised that my waters had broken! This was at 8.10pm on Wednesday night.

The contractions then started straight away - really agonizingly painful ones (I won't lie) two minutes apart. I was howling and, I have since been informed, inbetween contractions kept apologising to the other women on the ward and telling them that it didn't really hurt! I was examined again and within 20 minutes I had dilated 5cm.

By 9pm I was in lots of painand was wheeled down to the labour ward and given gas and air. I remember having to roll myself from the trolley onto the bed. I was starting to get the urge to push and told the midwives this and they checked and I was fully dilated!

I can remember being told to push 'out of my bum' and that if I didn't make any noise (was mooing!!!!!) then baby would arrive quicker. Despite being completely and utterly off my face on gas and air (I was talking shite to everyone and full on hallucinating) I kept the noise down and pushed out of my bum as instructed. 40 minutes of pushing later out came Little Miss Daisy! She was delivered straight onto my tummy and let out a little whimper and I just fell in love with her straight away. She is absolutely beautiful, with huge dark eyes and lots of dark hair.

I delivered the placenta whilst the other half cuddled Daisy, and had to be stitched up as I tore a little bit, but it was bearable and I was amazed when I realised that I had only had a 1hr 38min labour from start to finish!

We came back home this morning and have been inundated with visitors all day long. I must have had about thirty cups of tea (and the same amount of slices of cake!) Daisy is asleep at the moment so thought would jump on the laptop and tell you all my news!

I am not going to go all Super Mum on you and pretend that labour is painless and that you forget all about it the moment it's over, but it is so, so, so worth it. I will agree with those that say it's an amazing experience - it really is. I am still in shock that this gorgeous baby girl was in my tummy only 4 days ago and that I made her!! I am so unbelievably proud of her, and of myself.

I can't wait to hear everybody else's birth announcements and stories, but in the meantime lots and lots of love to all you ladies, babies and bumps, from me and Daisy x x x x